So much to say...

Christ, I can hardly catch my breath. There's so much to say! I need to tell you about:

• Jo and Simon's wedding
• Finding out my JET placement - Fukushima prefecture
• Lewis and Angela's wedding
• Moving out of Manchester and in to Catford
• Chris and Flora's wedding
• Coming to Ireland for Andrea and Anthony's wedding
• Hearing from my JET predecessor

As you can guess, it's been an ridiculously busy few weeks. I'm lucky enough to be sitting in a hotel room at the amazing Tankardstown house in Meath, so maybe there's a little I can do to catch up. Let's see...

A poignant reminder as I left Manchester.

The Big Giveaway - part 1

I'm leaving Manchester at the end of June. In my six-and-a-half years here, I've accumulated lots of things that I can't take with me on the plane to Japan. Do you want any of it?

Manchester Bucket List.

Have you ever seen a film called The Bucket List? It stars Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, and it is one of the biggest piles of stinking shit to ever by passed by the bowels of Hollywood. Two great actors, one steaming turd of a film. It's a shame because the basic premise – making a list of things that you want to do before you kick the eponymous bucket, and then doing them – is strong. In seven weeks, Laura and I are leaving Manchester. Here's what's on our list so far:-

• Eat at Bem Brasil
• Ride the Manchester Big Wheel
• Entertain Robbie and Rachel
• Drink at the Briton's Protection
• Walk in the Peak District
• Eat at El Rincon de Rafa
• Entertain Tracy and Andy
• Drink at the Peveril of the Peak
• Eat at Kim by the Sea

Yes, that's right my keen-eyed friends, it is mostly based on eating and drinking. But it's by no means finished yet. If you were leaving Manchester in a few weeks, what would you consider unmissable? C-c-c-comment away!

Vega, BHMC, Arcade Fire

What a scrum! The Mountain Equipment sample sale in Hyde was far busier this weekend, with people walking around carrying armfuls of down and hard-shell jackets so as to stop anybody else picking them up. Somehow from within the melee, Laura managed to find a couple of anoraks for her cousin and his son, and to find me a Vega jacket, in Facebook blue. The only imperfection was that the zip was stuck; easy to repair, surely. At only sixty pounds, it was around a quarter of its retail price. Ker-ching!

"Your tour guide for today is DTRMCR"

For the first time in months, I ironed a shirt today. My boss had asked, "Can you go to the senior managers meeting for me?" and I was eager to make an impression. Meetings was the theme of this week's class at college, and comparing today's meeting to Tuesday's chaos was an object lesson. "That's my homework done," I thought as I watched the head of the unit chairing with tact, purpose, humour and knowledge.

I met Steve Rideout after work for a cup of coffee and a slice of cake. We ended up taking a tour of noteworthy buildings: to Spinningfields; down Deansgate; Urbis; the Eye; and back to the G-Mex. Steve talked about cameras. I listened. Good company. A good man.

Walking home from the tram stop, I passed three young girls, eight or nine years old. They were scratching around in the fallen leaves, building piles and kicking them. "Go on," said one of them to another. "Ask him." She jogged over, stood up as tall as she could, and smiled:

"Do you have any money. We want to raise it up to charity."

I smiled, shook my head, and walked on. Good luck to the little bleeders. Raise it up to charity? Ha!